EA Opens New DICE Studio in LA, to Develop Star Wars Games - News

Electronic Arts has opened a new DICE studio in Los Angeles and it will focus on developing new Star Wars titles. A report on the Wall Street Journal has stated that the new studio is looking to hire 60 employees by the end of 2013.

This news comes a week after Electronic Arts secured a deal with Disney to exclusively develop and publish future Star Wars games. DICE Los Angeles will be using the Frostbite 3 engine to develop its Star Wars games. Battlefield 3 used the same engine.

Karl-Magnus Troedsson, the companies general manager, did say that the LA studio will have two main rivals also based in Southern California. The two studios are Activision's Infinity Ward and Treyarch, who both develop Call of Duty titles.

The new LA studio has already hired several employees from the core team behind the Medal of Honor franchise. Troedsson hopes to draw from the same talent pool as its two rivals.

"There is an extreme talent pool over that we want a part of," Troedsson said. "It's no secret that our main competitor is there."